The Black List Annual Labs

Eligibility and project requirements

A LONE WRITER APPLIES DIRECTLY, and must be the sole author: you must be the sole and exclusive author of an original feature-length screenplay, competent to contract and over 18. THERE IS AN INCOME CAP, which is the gate that decides most cases: you must not have earned more than 100,000 US dollars in aggregate in connection with any prior scriptwriting work, whether for features or television. No credits are required, and no nationality requirement is published, but the travel clause constrains it in practice, since if air travel is required you must be available to be flown to Los Angeles from a major airport within the continental United States; whether an overseas entrant may apply and self-fund is not addressed. To enter you must post a feature-length script on blcklst.com for at least one week during the submission period and opt in to the Program Submission Call. One cohort per script, though multiple scripts are permitted. Selection requires availability on the stated dates: if you are selected and cannot attend, the Black List may offer your place to the runner up. The Black List reserves the right to choose no candidate if no entry is of sufficient merit. No page limit is published.

Formats

Feature

Eligibility

Income cap18+No credit required

Open to

United States

Deadlines & fees

Dates and fees checked against the official site 10 Aug 2026. That is longer ago than we aim for; confirm on the official site before entering.

Prepare your entry

Prizes

NO CASH PRIZE, STIPEND OR GRANT IS PUBLISHED FOR EITHER COHORT, and that absence is real rather than a gap in our reading: other Black List programmes on the same index do publish figures, such as the Parenthood Fellowship's 15,000 dollar grant and NRDC's 20,000 dollars each to three writers. The award here is entirely in kind, and it is substantial. Twelve writers, six per cohort. Air travel in coach class round-trip within the continental United States, ground transport to and from the Los Angeles airport and all Lab events, and accommodation, room and tax, are provided by the Black List, and MEALS ARE ALSO PROVIDED. Attendance and boarding in the provided accommodation are compulsory for the duration, as is proof of vaccination including boosters per current CDC guidelines and willingness to test for COVID-19 before arrival. An asterisk after "room and tax only" has no visible footnote, so incidentals are presumably yours. No cash figure is published for the Sloan Fellowship track. RIGHTS: NOTHING IS TAKEN. No option, first refusal, exclusivity or development-slate claim appears anywhere, which distinguishes this sharply from several programmes at a similar level. What the Submission Agreement does contain is a broad idea-misappropriation waiver and a general release: you agree you will not be entitled to compensation for the use of similar or identical material independently created by the company or arriving from another source, and you release the company from all claims arising from any assertion that it used or appropriated your material, except for fraud or wilful misconduct. This comes with an express California Civil Code section 1542 waiver and mandatory individual arbitration in Los Angeles, in which no award may exceed the minimum rate that would be due under the WGA Theatrical and Television Basic Agreement, with all other relief at law or equity including injunctive relief expressly waived. Company is defined broadly to include sponsors, affiliates, licensees, successors and assigns. Selected writers also grant name, likeness and biography use in promotional materials for future iterations.

Judging

Selectors and mentors are not named; selection is as determined by the Black List, with a Zoom interview round, and mentors are described only as professional screenwriting mentors. The Sloan Foundation has approval over any writer selected for its fellowship track. Written feedback is not part of the Lab. The paid evaluation that gates entry is itself written feedback, but it is bought separately at 100 US dollars for a feature.

Frequently asked questions